This invention relates to state models and state model development for defining and monitoring processes, more specifically, for monitoring industrial and business processes.
As the business environment becomes more complex, with multiple, overlapping channels, competing and complementary paradigms, providing customized products to large numbers of customers, it becomes absolutely essential for the enterprise to bring its business processes under control. Control of the business process must be accomplished in such a way as to provide management with accurate and current knowledge of the state of business, including deals in progress, and their progression through the enterprise.
There is an especially strong need for a readily scalable and readily deployable development environment, including development tools, to allow end users to develop business applications customized to their needs and derived from supplied base classes, functions, subroutines, and the like.
Likewise, in the industrial sector as industrial processes become longer and more complex, with parallel paths of discrete process steps, frequently carried out at different locations, leading to nodes, and to still further process steps. This has created a need for a readily scalable and readily deployable development environment to allow end users to develop industrial modeling applications derived from supplied classes, functions, routines, and subroutines.
A particular need for programming tools is in the area of the representation of a process as a sequence of discrete, frequently parallel, steps, as in flow charts, and especially funnel charts.
A further need exists for development tools for the development of pipeline models, as industrial, manufacturing or sales pipeline models.
A still further need exists for development tools for assistant modules, as industrial, manufacturing or sales assistant modules used to guide personnel through manufacturing sequences and sales transactions.
Our invention relates to state models of xe2x80x9cobjectsxe2x80x9d and especially configurable state models of xe2x80x9cobjects.xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cObjectsxe2x80x9d which are referred to herein as xe2x80x9cbusiness objectsxe2x80x9d or as xe2x80x9cobjectsxe2x80x9d include sets of functions, and variables, characterized by permitted states and transitions, and prohibited states and transitions. The objects may model steps or states in a business process or in a manufacturing process. Objects may be called by an end-user, and incorporated into an end-user""s programs, routines, subroutines, functions, and applets. According to our invention the xe2x80x9cobjectsxe2x80x9d are related to and/or are useful in one or more types of industrial and manufacturing processes, business transactions, and/or business processes, such as product fabrication, product assembly, warehousing, shipping, customer contacts, sales leads and referrals, orders, order configuration, and similar transactions.
The invention provides a method of preparing a state model of a process, as an industrial or business process. The state model defines the behavior of logical industrial or business objects in an industrial or business process model of the industrial or business process as a set of permitted states and a set of permitted transitions between the permitted states. This is done through the steps of selecting a template for the state model; selecting industrial or business object components for the state model; selecting or defining state transitions for the state model; defining permitted state transitions from a xe2x80x9cfrom statexe2x80x9d to a xe2x80x9cto statexe2x80x9d with a State Transition Rule name; associating state transitions with state transition rules, names, and conditions; enumerating the state transition names and state transition rule names; and extracting the state transition rules from a database. The states, transitions, and extracted rules make up a state machine execution engine; and process the industrial and/or business model through the state machine execution engine.
At least one of the state transition rules include prerequisites which must be met before the transition is permitted, and at least one of the state transition rules define authorized users for effecting a state transition.
In one embodiment of the invention the business objects define a manufacturing or sales pipeline funnel model (here illustrated as a sales pipeline) of a set of industrial processes or business deals (here illustrated as business deals), where the sales pipeline funnel shows business deals being worked in different methodologies on a single sales pipeline graphic. The methodologies are chosen from the, for example, telesales process deals, strategic deals, and standard process deals.
In this embodiment of the invention the business deals may be grouped by sales methodology, and classified as, for example, as qualifying deals, working deals, and closing deals. Similarly, industrial processes may be grouped by technology, physical processes, equipment, or the like.
In the case of business models, the method of the invention is practiced by creating a sales opportunity, creating a sales method, breaking the sales method into sales cycles within the sales method, and breaking the sales cycles down into sales phases for each sales cycle. In the case of industrial models, the method of the invention is practiced by creating process flows, manufacturing steps, identifying manufacturing steps to manufacturing equipment or processes, and introducing testing and/or quality control steps.
In carrying out the method of the invention a sales method is associated with a sales opportunity, and the sales opportunity is advanced based upon the associated sales method. Sales opportunities are sorted and grouped by at least one of sales methods, cycles, and phases. The deal data, grouped by one or more of sales method, sales cycle, and deal phase, to a charting engine, and from the charting engine to the Sales Pipeline Funnel Chart.
An aspect of the method of the invention is monitoring the state of deal or product as it moves from state to state, for example, to determine additional actions with respect to the deal or product.
Another aspect of the invention is assigning activity and assessment templates to a deal or product in process, for example, to assess the deal or manufacturing process flow using the assigned activity and assessment templates.
A further embodiment of our invention is a system running on at least one computer (but frequently on more then one computer, as a client and a server, or a web client and a web server and one or more application servers) for preparing a state model of a process as described above. The state model defines the behavior of logical business or industrial objects in a business or industrial process model of the process as a set of permitted states and a set of permitted transitions between the permitted states. The system is configured to: select a template for the state model; select object components for the state model; select or define state transitions for the state model; define permitted state transitions from a xe2x80x9cfrom statexe2x80x9d to a xe2x80x9cto statexe2x80x9d with a State Transition Rule name; associate state transitions with state transition rules, names, and conditions; enumerate the state transition names and state transition rule names; extract the state transition rules from a database; wherein the states, transitions, and extracted rules comprise a state machine execution engine; and process a business model through the state machine execution engine.
In the system and method of our invention we provide a unique integration, through a state model and state machine of several objects, as industrial or business objects, to provide graphical reports, such as a Multiple Method Sales Pipeline, a Funnel Chart Engine, and a set of reporting tools. As a result, data, including sales pipe line data and industrial work-in-progress data, can be reported graphically across multiple sales methods and industrial methods and locations using such techniques as funnel charting, sales pipelines, and customized reporting techniques.
The invention described herein includes a method and a system for preparing and using a state model of an industrial or business process. The state model defines the behavior of the logical objects making up a business process model of the business process as (1) a set of permitted states and (2) a set of permitted transitions between the permitted states. The state model is created by selecting a template for the state model, and selecting industrial or business object components for the state model (for example, by using xe2x80x9cOOPxe2x80x9d or other programming paradigms and methods as described herein). The user then selects or defines state transitions for the state model, for example, by defining permitted state transitions from a xe2x80x9cfrom statexe2x80x9d to a xe2x80x9cto statexe2x80x9d. This is the xe2x80x9cconfigurabilityxe2x80x9d aspect of the state model. The defined or selected state transition rules are identified to State Transition Rule names. That is, state transitions are associated to specific state transition rules, names, and conditions, and the state transition names and state transition rule names are enumerated. The specific state transition rules corresponding to the names are extracted from a database. The extracted states, transitions, and rules define the state machine execution engine. This state machine execution engine is used to process business models, as described herein.